The photographs presented in this essay are not a report about a dying village, where all the youth fled to the capitals long ago. This is simply an attempt to stop time, using photography to tell about the life of our ancestors, going into oblivion and taking away something incredibly valuable and real, something that is in each of us, but only very deeply. Enjoy every photo and share with these people their incredible life-affirming power!
They mow in the morning, in the dew. Can you smell the grass?! The main thing in this matter is a sharp scythe, so every ten minutes the tool is sharpened, and at the same time - a short rest.
The village of Chukhrai is surrounded by dense forests and swamps where wary black storks nest. In the photo: a young black stork on the edge of the village sat down to rest after a hunt.
Is the clock ticking? There is only one clock in the house, and even that one constantly stops, but it doesn’t matter. Everything here is subject to natural and daily rhythms. Life is measured and simple; a city person may even find it boring.
To prevent rain from penetrating, the mop is made higher. Later, when the hay is compacted, you can haul or drag the haystacks into a haystack or hayloft.
Both firewood and building materials come from the forest, right outside the outskirts.
The farm allows villagers to be autonomous and not dependent on the outside world. Pork lard, potatoes, chicken eggs, cow's milk is the basis of nutrition. And as an addition to the diet in warm weather - a variety of vegetables and herbs, and of course, gifts of the forest - berries, mushrooms. Hops, a component of local moonshine, grow in the forest lowlands. Not a single event in the village can take place without homemade vodka; it is the Chukhraev currency - the equivalent of labor.
The mother elk was killed by poachers, the elk calf joined the herd of cows and ended up in the village
Morning on the porch of the hut. This is what summer shoes look like, but rubber boots are more popular...
Outside the village there is a world of wild nature, but there is no clear boundary, it is blurred. Nowadays cows are grazing, and early in the morning you can see roe deer here, wild boars are not at all afraid of people, you even have to protect vegetable gardens from them. The list of guests from the forest can be listed for a long time: moose, wolves, foxes, ferrets, weasels, sparrowhawks, bears.
A consequence of the former collective farm - a powerful collective principle forces residents to regularly gather not only to work, but also simply to discuss the news. We can say that this forest village is one big family, where everyone has a common worldview, views and thoughts with everyone else.
Easter holiday in the village. The old ladies put on their best clothes.
The water is heated in the stove, the owner washes first, then the hostess.
The main thing in the house is the mother oven. She will feed you, dry you, and put you to bed. Almost every day, early in the morning, smoke pours out of the chimney, and red reflections dance on the walls of the hut. This is where food is cooked for oneself and the livestock, bread is baked on coals, apples and herbs are dried on a stove bench. The stove also heals: it warms the bones and removes the disease.
Unlike buildings made of stone and brick, a Russian hut lasts as long as people live in it, and an ownerless one is destroyed in 15-20 years. Soon tall nettles will grow in this place.
And although it is very difficult to keep a cow, it is even more difficult without one. This animal provides not only milk, but also the opportunity to fertilize the garden soil with manure, and therefore obtain a consistently good harvest of vegetables. Interestingly, there is no refrigerator in the hut. Instead, there are buckets of cold water, where glass jars put milk. And then there’s sour cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, and the housewife’s unusually tasty butter. Milk is added to the dough for baking homemade bread in a Russian oven, calves are given milk to drink, and all domestic animals are given it.
Autumn work in the garden. Pictured: transferring a pumpkin to the cellar. Local residents do not use the word “harvest”, but say “the land has become ugly”. This is respect for the earth as the mother of everything growing on it.
If there is no owner, you have to do everything yourself - prepare and chop firewood, mow and harvest hay, handle the horse.
Local residents wash themselves in wooden barrels.
Life is worth living and love is worth waiting for. Children and grandchildren are far away.
Crossing.
Everyone suffers from mosquitoes. More and more hordes of these insects arrive from the surrounding swamps - and there is no escape from them.
Potatoes with lard are the favorite food of local residents. This plant is planted in large quantities. All summer people fight for the potato harvest: they weed it, hill it, collect it
A gray flycatcher made a nest right in an old bast shoe.
This was in 1999. I then worked as a counselor at a camp (well, yes, I already talked about this). Our camp was in the village of Volkovo, which is just a kilometer from the Solnechnaya Polyana boarding house. The Moscow River also flowed there (if I’m not mistaken), or rather, this was its source: not a wide river with a fairly stormy current.
It was a 20-minute walk from the camp to the beach, so we were lazy and swam mostly in the pool with the children, there was less buzz, but it was close at hand.
I don’t know how it is in other camps, but in ours the counselors drank. No, not even like that - the counselors DRINKED. Every day and a lot. Although I was an inexperienced counselor, I did not lag behind them in terms of alcohol abuse.
And we had a holiday... I don’t even remember what, but some important holiday, as a result of which we were loaded up to our ears. I went out to get some air (actually to the toilet, but getting some air sounds more romantic), leaving a cloud of people in my leader’s room, and when I returned 5 minutes later, with the thought “it’s time to sleep, it’s time to sleep,” I found my partner with a girl in an unambiguous pose.
Deciding to myself:
“Let the boy have fun” - she went to look for a place to stay for the night (for some reason the thought was drilled into his vazhatskaya - it didn’t even occur to me). The place was found in the hall in the form of a sofa. I laid it out, dug out a pillow somewhere for myself and was about to fall asleep when my second partner with round eyes appeared on the threshold:
-Have you seen it? - she said and nodded towards our common leader.
“Yeah,” I confirmed and calmed down (otherwise the thought flashed through my mind that these were alcoholic hallucinations)
- Then I'm with you...
And we even fell asleep.
But then there was a knock on the door. They opened it. Behind the door was the senior pioneer leader, who was not in the best condition (but, characteristically, got drunk somewhere else).
“Girls,” he whined pitifully. - I won’t make it home, give me shelter.
From the “shelter” we only have our own leader’s room, where our boy has fun, and the sofa on which Natasha and I have already settled down so wonderfully.
- Oh, sofa! - he cried joyfully and immediately lay down.
“Bolivar can’t handle three people,” I thought. Moreover, half the camp was sure that the pioneer leader and I were lovers (and only because he brought me to this camp).
- Let me go breathe fresh air- I muttered.
- Where? - Natasha became worried. Every day we were told at the meeting about the criminogenic situation around the camp.
- Yes, I’m here, around the building... you look and our boy is frolicking...
“Ahh, okay,” Natasha calmed down and lay down next to the body of the senior pioneer leader.
I went outside. The light breeze was refreshing. I walked around the building. This didn't seem enough to me. I decided: to the gate (which is 800 meters) and back.
I reached the gate. Few. “Well, to the beginning of the village and back.” I've arrived. Few. “Well, to the end of the village” and back. I reached the end. Few.
"What's left of the beach here?" - a happy thought came to me.
10 minutes later I was on the beach.
"Why not take a swim?" - the next thought was even happier.
She pulled off her shorts and T-shirt and remained in transparent underwear. I took a swim and went out. Okay, there's no one around. Taking shorts and a T-shirt in my hands, I headed to the camp.
And so I walk across the field. Pre-dawn time. Beauty. Silence. And suddenly... a fisherman.
you should have seen his eyes:
Apparently, without noticing my underwear (it was flesh-colored and transparent) he decided that I was walking around naked. I proudly raised my head and walked past him, with an expression on my face:
"What? It's so fashionable now"
The fisherman probably remembered his fishing for a long time.
The first thing I saw upon entering the camp was the senior pioneer leader and my partner, who were running around the camp looking for me.
- Where were you?
- I was swimming!
- Why aren’t you happy with the pool anymore?
Since then, we have had a running joke: “Tie her to a chair, otherwise she’ll go swimming again.”
Now I practically don’t drink, and I don’t do anything stupid. And life became somehow... more boring...
Looking at these photographs, you may get the feeling that rural girls are all smart and beautiful. It’s worth noting right away that the selection of photographs with village girls contains not only real photos, but also pictures from thematic photo shoots. However, this does not change the essence, since even professional models, trying on the image of an ordinary village girl, are literally transformed, becoming incredibly charming and magically attractive.
In the village and in the countryside there is still a certain flavor of antiquity that has not yet been destroyed modern world. The peculiarities of culture and traditions here have not yet been completely erased, and in some places you can see something beautiful that is almost lost and is becoming less and less noticeable. The spirit of the village with its wooden houses, stoves, bathhouses, special way of life, clothing and the nature of the conversation of villagers can surprise and make you fall in love from the first second.
The photos presented below may appeal not only to the beauty of the incredibly charming girls, but also to their atmosphere, color and originality of the village. Village girls seem unspoiled by the bustle of the city and the constant race for money and success, and by any available means and methods. This is why rural beauties seem much purer in soul and body, which cannot help but touch the most vital thing in the soul. In the end, all the girls presented are simply unreal beauties. Just the sight of them, a fleeting glance, makes your heart skip a beat. Russian beauties look simply irresistible against the backdrop of beautiful views and blossoming nature. If you are a city dweller, then do not be surprised if after viewing these photos you have an unbearable desire to go to the village, rural outback, to spend a weekend or an entire vacation there.
Beautiful photos of rural or village girls
